In a double hung window, the window sashes are typically secured to a window frame by window jambs located on the sides of the window frame. Window jambs also function to create a seal between the window sash and the window frame to prevent moisture from leaking into the interior of the window frame when the window is closed. This sealing function is particularly important in double hung window assemblies where an upper sash and a lower sash can be moved up and down to either open or close the window.
Though many window jambs adequately secure and seal window sashes to the window frame, little attention has been focused on the appearance of window side jambs until recently. To some purchasers of window frames and sashes, the appearance of a window can be as equally important as how well it functions. Unfortunately, an appealing appearance is often lacking in most side jambs, mostly due to the portion of the side jamb known as the jamb liner.
The jamb liner is the component of the side jambs that provides many of the functional aspects of a window jamb, including forming sash tracks in which the window sashes can vertically slide to open and close the window. In a double hung window, the sash tracks for the two window sashes are separated on each side by the jamb liner. Therefore, the jamb liner, and particularly the piece of the jamb liner that separates the sash tracks, plays a large role in the overall appearance of a window assembly. Despite this, jamb liners are often extruded from a piece of metal or plastic and therefore do not match or even blend in with the rest of the inner portions of the window frame which is often made of wood.
Other attempts have been made to design a window assembly that provides an aesthetically appealing window jambs. U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,126 (Hendrickson et al.) describes a window jamb component assembly mountable in a jamb of a double hung window that includes a jamb liner having upper and lower segments, channel guides spaced apart by a profiled web, and upper and lower sash assemblies. The profiled web defines a jamb filler recess, an inner weather stripping recess and an outer weather stripping recess.
The jamb fillers that are retained by each of the jamb filler recesses each have a length substantially the same as the length of one of the window sash assemblies. Therefore, each jamb recess typically contains an upper and a lower jamb filler. The frame weather stripping is secured to the window assembly via weather stripping recesses located in the profiled web.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,864 (Martin) describes a window assembly that includes a jamb filler that extends the full height of the jamb liner. A weather-strip is attached to substantially the entire exposed surface of the jamb filler.